AMERICAN LIBRARIES DIRECT
April 5, 2006
AL Direct is a free electronic newsletter e-mailed every Wednesday to personal members of the American Library Association.

Contents:

U.S. & World News
ALA News
Booklist Online
New Orleans Update
Division News
Round Table News
Awards
Seen Online
Actions & Answers
Poll
Datebook
AL Direct FAQ

U.S. & World News

DOJ subpoenaed dozens of companies in addition to Google
The Department of Justice has gone beyond Google in its quest for evidence to develop a case in preparation for an October trial in Philadelphia over the Child Online Protection Act (COPA)....

Groups criticize Bush’s Patriot Act
signing statement

A coalition of librarians, booksellers, publishers, and writers has accused President Bush of undermining new provisions in the reauthorized Patriot Act that require him to inform Congress how the FBI is using its expanded police powers, including those authorizing access to library and bookstore records....

West Virginia school librarians
threatened with layoffs

In response to a looming fiscal crisis, the superintendent of the Wetzel County (W.Va.) Schools has proposed eliminating as of FY 2006–07 all library staff at the system’s four high schools....

Indianapolis director declines pay raise
in face of library cuts

Indianapolis–Marion County Public Library CEO Linda Mielke has declined a 4% pay raise that would have boosted her salary to about $122,000, saying in a statement that it “sends the wrong message” at a time when the library is cutting spending....

Scranton trustees restrict R-rated
movie loans

The Scranton (Pa.) Public Library Board unanimously approved a policy March 30 to restrict R-rated movie loans to youths 17 and under unless a parent or guardian has given written permission....

Georgia library considers policy
for movie screenings

The Columbus (Ga.) Public Library is considering implementing a policy to restrict younger patrons from watching movies screened at the library....

IMLS announces $163 million in grants
to state library agencies

The Institute of Museum and Library Services has awarded over $163 million in grants to state library agencies....

British Library enumerates missing items
The British Library in London has confirmed that only 28 valuable items have been stolen from its collection in the last five years....

Sponsor: Sirsi Dynix

Sirsi Dynix ad

Annual Conference logo
Annual Conference
in New Orleans,
June 22–28.
Try out the
ALA Conference Wiki.


What do YOU think?

Do your National Library Week activities bring significantly more patrons into the library??

Click here
to ANSWER!

This is an unscientific poll that reflects the opinions of only those AL Direct readers who have chosen to participate.


Results of the
March 29 poll:

What one or two books have you read recently that had the most significant impact on you?

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini emerged as a clear winner.

(152 responses)

For cumulated results and selected responses to all AL Direct polls, visit the AL Online website.


E-mail your support for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission: Call for restored funding to NARA’s grantmaking arm.



Browse through new products from ALA Editions and ALA Graphics.

 

ASSOCIATE EDITOR, American Libraries
American Libraries, the monthly magazine of the American Library Association, seeks an associate editor to join the editorial and production team that produces the chief perquisite of ALA membership....

See American Libraries
HOT JOBS ONLINE
for more career opportunities

Download the Toolkit for School Library Media Programs, part of ALA’s @ your library campaign.

 

April 2006
AL cover

Stories inside include:

New England’s Carnegie libraries

Construction funding 101

Libraries = cultural icons: The 2006 facilities showcase


Put it in writing:
Woman’s Day magazine is asking its women readers aged 18 and over to submit their stories, in 700 words or less, on how the library has changed their lives. Send stories to womansday@ala.org from now until
May 10
.

May 4 –7:
North American Serials Interest Group, 21st Annual Conference, Denver Marriott City Center. “Mile High Views: Surveying the Serials Vista.”

May 18-21:
International GLBT Archives, Libraries, Museums, and Special Collections Conference, Minneapolis. Presented by the University of Minnesota Libraries, the Tretter Collection, and Quatrefoil Library. 612-625-5000.

June 7–9:
Society for
Scholarly Publishing
,
28th Annual Meeting. Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel, Crystal City, Virginia. 303-422-3914.

June 16–18:
American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. “Liberty! Égalité! Independencia! Print Culture, Enlightenment, and Revolution in the Americas, 1776–1826.” Contact: John Hench,
508-471-2128.

July 28–
Aug. 2:

ACRL Institute for Information Literacy Immersion '06, Simmons College, Boston. Contact: Margot Sutton Conahan, 800-545-2433, ext. 2522.

July 30–
Aug. 1:

Church and Synagogue Library Association Annual Conference, Sheraton Hotel at Koury Convention Center, Greensboro, North Carolina. “North Carolina Shines on Congregational Libraries.” Contact: Judy Janzen, 800-542-2752.

More Datebook items...


Continuing Education Clearinghouse is a keyword-searchable database of CE opportunities offered by ALA and its units.

 

“Not only do librarians have their own unique stories to tell, but they make great partners for games of Trivial Pursuit.”

—Contributing writer Sheryl Imhoff, on the ways today’s libraries and librarians defy stereotypes, Cincinnati Community Press, Mar. 8

 

American Libraries Direct

George M. Eberhart,
Editor:
geberhart@ala.org

Karen Sheets,
Graphics and Design:
ksheets@ala.org

Send feedback: aldirect@ala.org

AL Direct FAQ:
www.ala.org/aldirect/

To advertise in American Libraries Direct contact:
Leonard Kniffel, Editor-in-Chief, lkniffel@ala.org

All links outside the ALA website are provided for informational purposes only. Questions about the content of any external site should be addressed to the administrator of that site.

American Libraries
50 E. Huron St.
Chicago, IL 60611
www.ala.org/alonline/
800-545-2433,
ext. 4216

ISSN 1559-369X.

ALA News

Annual Conference closing session
to feature Caroline Kennedy

Author Caroline Kennedy, who is the president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, will be the featured speaker at the ALA Annual Conference closing session on Tuesday, June 27, in New Orleans....

International attendees
at Annual Conference

Librarians from 34 countries have registered for the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans....
ALA International Relations Office

ALA boosts Mississippi libraries
fund by $100,000

A $100,000 donation from ALA during National Library Week (April 2–8) will nearly triple the Rebuild Mississippi Libraries Fund. ALA President Michael Gorman presented the check to Mississippi Library Association President Susan Cassagne and Mississippi Library Commission Executive Director Sharman Smith on April 4 at the Waveland Public Library....

State of America's Libraries report
The first-ever State of America's Libraries report details both the positive impact libraries and librarians have on the millions of people who use them and the funding challenges they face.... 

Advocacy Institute to address
65% Rule, TABOR laws

The Advocacy Institute at the 2006 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans—now in an afternoon time slot—will focus on two types of state legislation: the 65% Rule, affecting school libraries, and TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) Laws, primarily impacting public libraries....

 

 



Booklist Online launches
into cyberspace

For more than 100 years, librarians have turned to the trusted reviews in the ALA’s Booklist magazine. On April 1, the popular collection development and readers’ advisory tool leapt forward with the launch of a new product, Booklist Online....

Featured review:
Adult books

Oates, Joyce Carol. High Lonesome: Stories, 1966–2006. Ecco, Apr. 2006 (0-06-050119-7). An expert in the causes and effects of obsession, desolation, and annihilation, Oates has crafted hundreds of mesmerizing short stories of acute social and psychological insights, sinister sexuality, and stark violence....

Time the avenger
Before I became a book reviewer, I think I assumed that book reviewers were a tweedy, pipe-smoking lot who spent their days sipping tea and reading books in book-cluttered offices, occasionally pausing to shake muffin crumbs out of the books in front of them....
Keir Graff, Booklist Blog, Apr. 4

New Orleans Update

You have to see it for yourself
American Libraries Editor-in-Chief Leonard Kniffel went to New Orleans in March to assess the city’s readiness for ALA Annual Conference in June. Scheduled for June 22–28, it will be the first major convention to meet in the Crescent City since the ravages unleashed by Hurricane Katrina last August....

ALA leaders tour Gulf Coast libraries; find spirit of rebuilding, much work still to be done
In honor of National Library Week, ALA President Michael Gorman, ALA President-Elect Leslie Burger, and ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels toured a number of libraries ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, learned about their rebuilding efforts and honored their work....

New Orleans readies itself
for largest convention since Katrina

The ALA contingent met with representatives from the City of New Orleans and New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau to review the progress that New Orleans has made as it prepares for the arrival of over 22,000 conference attendees....

Powells.com’s Katrina Project
helps rebuild New Orleans Public Library

Customers at online bookstore Powells.com can purchase book pledges for $8.95, then suggest a book to help rebuild New Orleans Public Library’s collection. Pledges will be delivered to the New Orleans Public Library Foundation, and Powell’s Katrina Project will add a book to its Levee for Life at Princeton University for each pledge....
Powell’s Books

Cost of levee repair triples
Announcing that the cost of rebuilding New Orleans's levees has tripled to $9.5 billion, the Bush administration has acknowledged that there may not be enough money for the government to offer the entire region full protection....
Washington Post, Mar. 31

New Orleans postal facility reopened
The U.S. Postal Service reopened its New Orleans processing and distributing center April 3, a move expected to drastically shorten post-Katrina delivery times that have seen letters take a week or more to travel just across town. Periodicals and other second-class mail are still embargoed, however, although that ban is expected to be lifted by May 1....
New Orleans Times-Picayune, Apr. 3

Signs of recovery in New Orleans
The New Orleans Times-Picayune has begun a weekly compilation of Signs of Recovery that "brighten our mood and show that we are on the mend." The first roundup notes the filming of Déjà vu, the city's first post-Katrina movie shoot....
New Orleans Times-Picayune, Apr. 4

Students spend spring break shoveling muck
Eleven students from Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy tell how they spent their spring break helping the cleanup in New Orleans. They joined about 400 students from around the country who took part in the effort....
Boston Globe, Mar. 29

Historic New Orleans Collection
showcases "Common Routes"

During the ALA Annual Conference, the Historic New Orleans Collection will feature "Common Routes: St. Domingue–Louisiana," a celebration of the connections between Louisiana and St. Domingue (Haiti). The French Quarter museum will also be exhibiting the Toussaint Louverture series by Jacob Lawrence. Both shows close June 30.... 

Division News

Care and (RSS) feeding of patrons (PDF file)
In a recent Tech Notes paper from PLA, Richard W. Boss offers a guide for libraries wanting to supply RSS feeds of their website offerings to their patrons....

Deadline extended for student writing award
LITA has extended the deadline for its award for the best unpublished manuscript by a student in an ALA-accredited library studies program, sponsored by the division and Endeavor Information Systems. The new deadline is Friday, April 21....

LITA appoints web manager,
standards coordinator

LITA has appointed David Altenhof, circulation librarian at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and Diane I. Hillmann, research librarian at Cornell University Library, to two-year terms as web manager and standards coordinator, respectively....

Round Table News

Native American exclusion focus of Annual Conference program
The exclusion of Native American perspectives from mainstream American culture will be the topic of a program sponsored by the Intellectual Freedom Round Table at the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans, June 22–28....

Awards

NISO's Patricia R. Harris wins LITA/Library Hi Tech communication award
Patricia R. Harris, executive director of the National Information Standards Organization since 1983, is the winner of the 2006 LITA/Library Hi Tech award for outstanding communication in library and information technology....

Orange County Public Library gets D&B minority business award from RUSA
The 2006 Dun and Bradstreet Award for outstanding service to minority business communities goes to the Orange County (Calif.) Public Library. is the 2006 recipient of the 2006 Dun and Bradstreet Award for Outstanding Service to Minority Business Communities. The award is presented by RUSA's Business Reference and Services Section....  

RUSA business leadership award
goes to Bobray Bordelon

Bobray Bordelon, Pliny Fisk Librarian of Economics and Finance at Princeton University, is the 2006 recipient of the Thomson Gale Award for Excellence in Business Librarianship, administered by RUSA's Business Reference and Services Section (BRASS)....

Seen Online

Shakespeare First Folio up for bid
A rare complete copy of the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays is expected to bring at least $6 million when Sotheby's auctions it this summer in London. The 1623 volume, still in its 17th-century calf binding, is being sold by Dr. Williams's Theological Library in London....
London Times, Mar. 31

Filmmakers slam Smithsonian
deal with Showtime

Ken Burns and other prominent documentary filmmakers and historians are blasting a deal between the Smithsonian Institution and the Showtime Networks cable channels to create television programming, saying it could cut off their access to the museum's collections and curators....
New York Times, Apr. 1

U.S. News ranks library studies programs
U.S. News and World Report has released its 2007 rankings of "America's Best Graduate Schools." The guide to library and information studies programs breaks out the ratings by such specialties as archives and preservation, digital librarianship, and services for children and youth....
U.S. News and World Report

Borders to sell
Sony e-book reader

When Sony's new e-book reader debuts this summer, it will be sold at 200 Borders bookstores. The Sony Reader, retailing for $299–$399 will also be available at 30 Sony Style stores....
CNet online news, Apr. 4

Attendance dips at presidential libraries
A sharp decline in attendance at most presidential libraries and museums has prompted the National Archives and Records Administration to launch a multiyear market research project to raise the facilities' profiles and find out what attracts visitors....
Dallas Morning News, Mar. 30

UWM librarian dispels stereotypes
on public radio

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee electronic resources Librarian John Hubbard appeared on April 4 public radio station WUWM to discuss librarian stereotypes. (The piece is about 33 minutes into the audiofile of the At 10 program.)
WUWM

Rock ’n’ Roll Library
Library graduate students at the University of Pittsburgh produced a video for National Library Week showing how a geeky guy is transformed by the library’s resources into a rock star....
YouTube

Actions and Answers

Oh D.E.A.R—It's time to read
April 12 has been designated National D.E.A.R.—Drop Everything And Read Day—a special reading celebration to remind and encourage families to make reading together on a daily basis a priority....
D.E.A.R.

NISO Forms RFID Committee
The National Information Standards Organization has formed a committee to create guidelines for best practices for the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) in library applications. The diverse group, which will include RFID hardware manufacturers, software providers, librarians, book jobbers, and processors, will be chaired by VTLS CEO Vinod Chachra....
NISO, Mar. 21

Depository Library Council
gets new members
(PDF file)
The U.S. Government Printing Office has announced a new chair and five new members of the Depository Library Council. Current member Bill Sudduth will now head the group, and Richard Akeroyd, Timothy Byrne, Denise Davis, Denise Stephens, and Katrina Stierholz will join....
GPO, Apr. 3

Bound by Law
A spunky documentarian leads a fight to save fair use—and explains copyright law in the process—in Bound by Law, a comic book from Duke Law School's Center for the Study of the Public Domain. A free digital version of the comic, published under a Creative Commons license, is available on the school's website....

Surveying the e-journal
preservation landscape

The latest bimonthly report on research library issues and actions from the Association of Research Libraries, the Coalition of Networked Information, and the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition is a survey of the e-journal preservation landscape by Anne R. Kenney, associate university librarian at Cornell University....
ARL

Australian libraries are key players in community internet access (PDF file)
Public libraries' crucial role in providing equitable internet access down under is confirmed by a recent national survey conducted by the Australian Library and Information Association....
Australian Library and Information Association, Mar. 31

Readers jump into the pool
Librarians who have designed do-it-yourself Read posters have posted their efforts on a Read Posters Pool on the photo-sharing website Flickr....
Flickr Read Posters group photo pool